I WANT to express my disappointment of the poor quality of the Metro Ambulance Services.
On Friday 17 December at around 20:15 in the evening I was approached by my neighbour hysterically calling me to summon the ambulance as her husband was rolling on the ground with pain and seemed to be in a rush to depart from this beloved land of our forefathers.
After calling the ambulance emergency phone number (apparently situated in Cape Town) we waited for two hours without a trace of the ambulance (with a few calls in between).
Just after 23:00 the ambulance personnel phoned and assured us that they were still coming, it was just that they were busy.
We waited the whole night without a trace of them and in the morning, I took money and took the old man to the doctor, who confirmed that he should be hospitalised and immediately issued a referral letter.
The poor or non-existent ambulance service is appalling.
M Ndarana, Mbekweni
Dr Cleeve Robertson, head of Metro Ambulance Services, responds: The call was categorised as Priority 2 (not an emergency) and hence the delayed dispatch. I can confirm the ambulance did arrive on the scene, but could not find the patient (by then they had left with private transport). Our Priority 1 target is 60% within 15 minutes which we are achieving at the moment.
